Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Anxiety (4)
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A horde of mages came rushing in. Dozens of attack spells activated without warning...
In the spectacle of pouring mana orbs, I let out a sigh alone.
"Do you not know what conversation is?"
If they had asked politely, it would only be proper to answer politely.
I hadn’t even attacked first, so this kind of response felt unfair.
For all they knew, I could have been an official guest with a proper permit.
"..."
Well.
I am an intruder, after all.
"Whew."
I unclenched the fist I’d been holding.
My fingers stretched out fully.
It wasn’t that my will to fight had vanished or anything like that, of course.
I shifted the mana I’d packed tightly into my fist across my entire palm.
Then I pictured an image in my mind.
Not firing it off, but spreading it out...
This was another application of Cleave.
Whoosh!
I swung my arm crudely.
The curtain of mana unfurled straight ahead, smashing through the spells entirely.
"What the hell is that...?"
"Damn it, dodge!"
"Dodge where?!"
The mages hurriedly threw up barriers.
Their shields looked solid enough to block anything, but unfortunately, they tore apart like paper.
In the end, the curtain swept the mages away, leaving most of them unconscious and unable to get back up.
"Hm?"
That curtain should have been something even Dylan could block without issue.
I’d deployed it with the expectation that it would be stopped—a sort of “defense”—so this outcome was unexpected.
Still, they wouldn’t be dead.
A light concussion at worst, but nothing lethal.
"...Dark Ages."
I’d heard magic had entered its Dark Ages.
The Mage Tower had covered it up so word hadn’t reached ordinary citizens, but anyone who needed to know was aware.
The problem was that this Dark Age went beyond mere stagnation in progress.
"I think I get what the old man’s after."
I’d just realized it.
The level of magic itself was declining.
To put it bluntly, it was obsolescence. The Archmage wanted to halt that decline.
By rejecting knights to boost demand for magic?
"There were better ways, but damn, these novel characters are all so extreme."
Honestly, whether magic thrived or collapsed was none of my concern.
I’d just do what I had to do.
I walked past the fallen mages.
If one tried to get up along the way, I personally smacked their head to put them back under.
Staying down was better for their safety than picking a fight with me, so it was a mercy of sorts.
"...Did they sound an alarm or something?"
Mages kept pouring in.
There had been that prior breach through the wall, so preparing countermeasures wasn’t strange.
Still, tangling with wave after wave of enemies was a waste of time.
The Archmage’s room wasn’t even in sight. Maybe I should just turn back today.
"Over there! Chase him!!"
Mages came rushing from straight ahead.
"No, why do you guys keep coming?"
Beating down innocent folks was work in itself.
For now, the opposite direction...
"This way!"
Don’t they guard the lower floors?
The Mage Tower’s layout was simple.
A straight corridor looping around a massive central pillar.
Because of that structure, getting blocked front and back meant instant encirclement.
And that’s exactly what had happened to me.
"Everyone, prepare spells. The enemy’s far stronger than us. Our only option is a simultaneous intercept."
A figure who seemed to be the leader gave the order.
No escape routes left anyway, so they’d just pepper me openly?
"I have a question."
"No questions allowed."
A curt refusal.
I pressed on regardless.
"Why’s this wall hollow?"
I rapped on the pillar beside me.
It felt solid, but it echoed emptily somehow.
Doesn’t this seem suspicious?
"...Attack!!"
The urgent attack command only confirmed it for me.
Something was inside.
I drew the magic sword I’d been holding back on.
"T-That’s...!"
I had no intention of parrying every single one of those spells.
Judgment swift, motion precise.
I swung my sword at the pillar with all my strength.
The pillar was sturdy, no doubt.
At least twice as thick as the ceiling I’d punched through on entry—need I say more?
Of course, not unbreakable.
Boom!!
Debris burst inward, revealing the interior.
It looked just like a study. The top floor pillar was indeed a “secret room.”
Almost simultaneously, the readied spells fired off.
I slipped inside the pillar by a hair just before they hit.
The clamor of spells colliding rang out right behind me.
"Oh, found it."
And there he was.
The Archmage!
"An unwelcome guest has arrived."
The Archmage was surprisingly composed.
He sat still, staring right through me.
Not one to be outdone, I used Insight on him.
[Skill: ‘Insight’ used.]
[Target - ???]
[Status: Interest, Curiosity]
He wasn’t even fazed by a mere broken wall.
Living a thousand years hadn’t been wasted water, it seemed.
Rumble...
A faint vibration ran through.
Wondering what it was, I turned to see the wall I’d smashed regenerating on its own.
Mages on the other side scrambled to climb over desperately.
"I’m fine."
The Archmage stopped them.
Within the Mage Tower, this old man held absolute authority.
Proof of that: the mages froze the instant he gave the order.
Soon, the wall sealed completely.
There was no sign the Archmage had done anything. The wall itself must have had repair magic woven into it.
And the noisy clamor outside fell silent.
Not as if they’d all shut up at once—more like a soundproofing spell had gone up.
"Why didn’t you burst out?"
"Even if you knew, you wouldn’t have bothered."
I’d found the Archmage’s personal quarters.
No greater accomplishment than that.
With a satisfied smile, I dropped naturally onto the sofa.
"W-Who...?"
"Don’t worry about it."
There were only a few sofas.
I inevitably ended up right beside the “prior guest.”
A brown-haired girl frozen in bewilderment.
Helen Forrest slid her gaze away from mine.
"Helen. Head home for today."
"No, stay here."
I was the one who’d killed Helen’s older brother.
I had no right to do anything to her, not even to stand here brazenly.
But precisely because of that...
I had an obligation to reveal the truth.
"Didn’t get your satisfaction from Dylan?"
The Archmage’s eyes narrowed a fraction.
[Target - ???]
[Status: Strong Doubt, Irritation]
"Need to ruin his little sister too before you’re satisfied?"
"I have no idea what you’re talking about."
Humans who could admit their own crimes were exceedingly rare.
I hadn’t expected any clean resolution.
"I swear on my soul. There isn’t a single lie in what I say."
"..."
"You planted the suggestion on Dylan and ultimately broke him, didn’t you?"
I would kill the Archmage.
But first, I’d lay out this mad old man’s crimes as far as I knew them.
"You merely believe that. Even soul oaths are subjective, after all."
"We’ll see. Dylan told me himself, directly."
"Dylan wasn’t in his right mind."
"At least in that moment, he was."
A millennium’s worth of shamelessness wasn’t easy to stomach.
The ideal scenario would’ve been the Archmage admitting his guilt outright, but whatever.
I glanced at Helen.
Her raw confusion was plain on her face.
Believe the Archmage?
Or the oath of this stranger she’d just met?
She’d agonize over it.
For now, that agony was enough.
"No intention of admitting it, then?"
"None."
"No plans to withdraw from Academy business either?"
"Correct."
"Good. Crystal clear."
I nodded and turned to Helen.
"Can you use flight magic?"
Helen managed a nod.
Sorry to drag her into this mess, but it was the best way to save her.
"Keep your head clear."
I drew my magic sword.
As bewilderment crossed the Archmage’s face, I slammed Cleave into the wall.
It pierced the pillar, pierced the tower.
A gaping hole opened to the outside.
I hurled Helen straight through it.
"--Huh?"
The tower was tall.
A fall from here meant certain death, but it also gave ample time to cast a spell.
"Shall we fight?"
"This isn’t the time for leisure."
Now it was a time attack.
Full throttle.
At the same time, where Roel was.
"Where is this?"
"The kingdom outskirts. Griffith territory, apparently."
"Couldn’t go straight to the Mage Tower?"
"I’m sorry."
"Whatever."
The Demon King’s First Legion Commander, “Astra,” had arrived.
"Swarming with humans."
Astra grimaced.
The nauseating stench of humans wafted from every direction.
"What should we do?"
"No need to ask."
Stealth operations and quiet resolutions...
Those were human tactics.
Demons never hid.
So, now that they were near their goal, they had to make it known thoroughly.
Exactly what being had set foot on this land.
And this “fallen territory” made the perfect sacrificial lamb.
"Kill them all."